


The Replacement-Brenna one-shot

by funygirl38



Series: The Path [5]
Category: Loki - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 14:51:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3900349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funygirl38/pseuds/funygirl38
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Helgi brought little Brenna from the palace to live with a young couple in Rialo, Loki and Eidra, she was smitten with Eidra, unaware as yet of the true identity of her new friends. She was a constant companion to the young woman whose attention was only taken away by the stern, Ill tempered man who was her husband. When baby Fen arrived, however, the whole household was thrown into an upset as everyone's attention turned to the sweet little boy in Eidra's arms and Brenna saw her pride of place overtaken. How could she ever regain her position in Eidra's affections again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Replacement-Brenna one-shot

Brenna stared at Eidra's hand prints in the soft dark earth before her. They had been in the garden, Eidra, Helgi and herself, when Eidra had dropped to her hands and knees with a strangled cry. Helgi had rushed to her side.  
“Goodness, child are you hurt?”  
“Yes....no...the baby is coming!”  
Helgi had helped her to her feet, “I will fetch Ren but let us get you into the cottage and in bed, first.”  
Brenna stood stock still, her eyes still locked upon the ground until Helgi called to her, “Brenna! Come along now!”  
She hurried to Eidra's side, taking her hand to stroke it. Eidra would often say Brenna's touch gave her such comfort when she was upset but this time, Eidra gently drew her hand away, wrapping it around her swollen stomach with a groan.  
“Oh Helgi, gods!”  
Helgi put her arm around Eidra's waist while Eidra bent forward, hands on her knees, panting.  
“So hard...to walk.”  
“Well you must, child. I warned you to stay abed last night when your pains began and still you insisted upon tending to the weeds,” Helgi urged her along, “Brenna, run ahead and turn down the sheets for Eidra.”  
Brenna ran as quickly as her legs could carry her. At the cottage, she flung the door wide, darting across the common room to Eidra's bedchamber where she threw the coverlet and linen sheet to one side, fluffing the down pillow for good measure just as Eidra and Helgi made the bedchamber doorway.  
Helgi eased Eidra to the mattress, lifted her legs and tucked them under the covers as Eidra clutched the sheets with a high pitched gasp.  
“Helgi, they are close together, hurry! Loki was going to the blacksmith's...”  
Helgi bent down, taking Brenna by the shoulder, “I am going to fetch Ren. I shall be as swift as possible. You must care for Eidra. Whatever she asks of you, do it without hesitation, ken?”  
Brenna nodded, “Yes, Helgi.”  
“My good girl,” Helgi kissed her on the forehead, “..soon we will have two blessings in the cottage.”  
Brenna watched Helgi rush through the common room and out the door, then she turned to Eidra. For moons now, Eidra had been growing fatter, her lap all but disappearing. Many nights, Eidra would hold Brenna, rocking her, reading her stories about the nine realms, showing her string tricks, helping her as she struggled to learn how to knit, singing to her. One night, however, when Brenna had climbed up into her lap, Eidra had groaned that there was little room left for her to sit. When Loki had strode over to them, lifting her from Eidra's lap and setting her on her feet, Brenna been frightened to tears.  
“Until the baby is born, you must not sit on Eidra's lap.”  
It was an order, delivered as such. Indignant tears burned her throat but before they could escape to her cheeks, Eidra had come to her defense.  
“Loki, I was merely thinking aloud. She...”  
Loki leaned over Eidra to stroke her cheek with his thumb, “You are too far along. You recall Alder's orders, do you not? You needs must take care not to overdo yourself.”  
He'd turned to Brenna then and in a soft voice had said, “I fear for the baby. Do you ken?”  
No matter how gently he spoke, whenever Loki focused his attention on her, Brenna felt as if ice water had been poured into her belly. When he fixed her with those brilliant aquamarine eyes, she was certain he could see every thought in her head be they large or small, good or evil. She had nodded solemnly but when he had smiled at her, she wanted to hide beneath the rocking chair.  
Later that evening, Eidra had come to her bedchamber and crawled into bed beside her.  
“We shall have our time together only this is far preferable to the chair for now.”  
Most nights from then on, Eidra would visit with her before bed until she drifted to sleep.

Now Brenna stood beside the bed, watching Eidra, as she panted through another contraction, her face upturned, eyes screwed tightly shut, hands clutching the headboard until at last she took a deep breath in, her body relaxing to the mattress, Brenna, too, letting out the breath she had been holding in.  
“Gods, such a strong spasm...Brenna, fetch a wet cloth for my face, I am in a sweat.”  
Brenna was out of the bedchamber almost before Eidra's words were finished, returning a moment later with a piece of wet linen which she set upon Eidra's forehead. Eidra put one hand atop the cloth, with the other, she took Brenna's hand and kissed it.  
“Such a help you are, such a good.....Odin wept!” Eidra let go of Brenna's hand as she gasped through another spasm.  
Brenna heard the cottage door open and voices, sweet, wonderful familiar voices drifted into the bedchamber, their owners rushing in to Eidra's bedside.  
“Let yourself breathe, Eidra,” Ren smoothed her hair back as the spasm released her from its grip.  
Sally lay her shawl on the chair beside Eidra's dressing table, bussing Brenna roughly atop the head, “Poppet, ye shouldn't be in here now.”  
“But I want to help,” she whined, “Eidra said I was...”  
“Ye've done a fine job I'm certain but this is no place fer little girls, Brenna,” Sally herded her to the bedchamber doorway, “Go see yer Uncle Chris.”  
Brenna grinned wide. At the very least she would not be left alone out in the common room.  
She ran out of the bedchamber to spy Chris swinging the kettle over the fire. She rushed up to him, throwing her arms around his waist, burying her face in his belly, smelling wood smoke, fresh air.  
“Brenna, lass. 'Tis time for your.....,” he paused, patting her head, “Time for Eidra to be delivered of her baby is it now?”  
“It is! Then I will be able to sit upon her lap again,” Brenna murmured as Chris sat down, drawing her onto his knee.  
“Eventually, all things in good time, my pet but Eidra will be caring for the baby as well. You mustn't expect too much of her at first..”  
Before she was able to ask what he meant, the door to the cottage swung wide and Loki strode in. Brenna lay her head on Chris's chest, resisting the urge to pop her thumb into her mouth lest she be called an infant as well.  
“Has she delivered yet?” Loki tossed his cloak across the table, rushing to the bedchamber door.  
“They're going to turn you out, boy. 'Tis woman's work,” Chris called after him.  
Sure enough, he stepped backwards into the common room as Helgi appeared in the doorway.  
“We will tend to her, rest assured,” Helgi pointed to where Chris sat, “Sit down, it may be some time.”  
A cry from the bedchamber turned Helgi quickly away as Loki flopped down into the chair before the fireplace, hands clasped before him.  
“I've the kettle on the boil for a cup of tea, lad. Soothe the nerves. No use worrying over what nature has done with ease time without measure. It'll come,” Chris set Brenna down while he fetched two mugs from the cupboard. .  
The lanterns were lit as the light faded from the day. Each time Eidra would cry out in pain, Loki would tighten his grip on the arms of his chair, turn his face away from them. Chris obliged Brenna by playing a few games of dice but as the night wore on, a silent vigil began. Loki would pace back and forth, sit for a moment, get up and pace again. Once, Sally had emerged looking pale as she gathered more linen from the shelves below the cupboards. Loki caught her arm before she could slip back through the bedchamber door.  
“Is she well?”  
Sally flashed him a nervous smile, “She's doing fine indeed. Ye've nothing to worry about.”  
Still the groans and cries kept on until Brenna thought Loki would force his way into the bedchamber. All at once shouts and a great shriek came from behind the door followed by small cry. Loki rushed to the door, held his ear to the wood and smiled.  
“Hel and be damned, I will see her..,” he threw open the bedchamber door as Brenna looked at Chris. Soon they too were stuck at the doorway peering inside.  
Brenna could see Eidra still lying on the bed, hair pasted to her forehead, her cheeks flushed crimson, a beatific smile upon her face. Loki, however, was beaming, grinning from ear to ear as he held a squirming, squeaking bundle in his arms. When he turned to them, Brenna was taken aback to find he was crying. She'd never seen him so overcome.  
“A son! I have a son, Chris!”  
“Aye, lad,” Chris patted her on the shoulder, drawing her against his hip, “Twice blessed you are.”  
Loki looked to the baby in his arms, then at Brenna and gave a strangled laugh, “Oh Chris. Indeed I am.”  
Brenna wrinkled her nose. Twice blessed with a boy? She moved further into the room until Loki bent down before her and she shied away from him to hide behind Sally's skirts.  
“Come, Brenna. See the new baby.”  
She eased over to peer down at the wrinkled scarlet face blotchy with strange white patches and streaks of blood.  
“He is ugly.” Brenna remarked, startled when the room erupted into laughter.  
Sally lifted the baby from Loki's arms, “He must be cleaned up properly is all. Then he will be beautiful.”  
Brenna stood by the bed, quiet, forgotten as they fussed about with the new baby. She wanted desperately to climb into bed beside Eidra though she knew she would be turned away. They were cleaning her up, helping her to the chair. They took the soiled linens from the bed, dressed her in a new shift. Then they placed the baby in her arms. Brenna, seeing a moment of peace, edged over to the chair where Eidra sat, one breast bared, rubbing the swollen nipple against the baby's lips until he opened his mouth and latched on, looking for all the world like a baby robin.  
“He is hungry.”  
Eidra nodded, glanced up at Brenna, “Very much so.”  
Brenna saw the tears shining in Eidra's eyes as she smiled at her, “Why are you crying, Eidra?”  
“Oh, Bren, I am happy. Do you not sometimes cry when you are happy?”  
“When I am happy, I laugh, I do not cry,” Brenna reached up to wipe a tear from Eidra's cheek and she kissed Brenna's hand, “Such a funny, sweet lamb, you are.”  
“And it is well past the sweet lamb's bedtime,” Helgi steered her from Eidra's side, “You will see the baby in the morning.”  
Brenna lay in her bed listening to the quite conversation in the room beside hers. She thought, perhaps when the others had gone to their homes, when everyone was asleep, she would sneak into the bedchamber and cuddle up to Eidra. She was asleep long before her plan had time to come to fruition.

 

Thus Brenna came to realize how much baby Fen was going to take away from her time with her beloved Eidra. Every day she would get up, wanting to climb into the bed with Eidra, listen to her stories, bask in the light of her attention and each day she would find the baby in her place. Loki, also would spend an exorbitant amount of time lying beside Eidra, playing with Fen, watching him, gazing up at Eidra as if she were a goddess. For this she couldn't blame him. Now however, she only wished to shove him out of the bed, reclaim her place.  
Helgi too, was smitten with the new arrival whose only contribution to the household in Brenna's estimation was a particularly irritating habit of crying at the most inconvenient of times, the first thing in the morning, just before Brenna's bedtime, late at night or any other moment she strove to garner anyone's attention. Loki, often stern, ill at ease with her was smitten with Fen. Upon arriving from the fields or other chores, he would immediately seek out the squalling infant, carrying him around, talking to him about going on hunts or showing him how to ride, bringing him to market when he grew older, things the baby could not possibly comprehend. Irritated beyond measure one day, Brenna had looked up at Loki in a rare bold moment and asked, “Why do you talk to him if he cannot ken what you are saying?”  
His response, nay, everyone's reply had been raucous laughter leaving Brenna to stew that her serious question had been taken so lightly.  
One evening, nearly a moon after Fen was born, Eidra and Loki invited Ren, Sally, Chris, Silas and Ingrid to the cottage to formally recognize Fen's birth. Everyone was cooing over the baby, laughing at young Gunnar's antics, busy helping Eidra with the evening meal. Brenna retreated to her stool by the fire to watch the preparations, her rag doll clutched tightly in her arms.  
“Were it Sally and myself were so blessed.”  
She heard the creak at her elbow as Chris settled into the chair beside her.  
“Maybe you could take Fenris,” she muttered.  
Chris smiled, leaned forward on his knees, “I doubt they would willingly part with him. Besides, we are too old for children now.”  
Brenna sighed, frowning as she stared into the fire, “You would not like them. They cry constantly..”  
“Why of course. However else would he be able to tell you he is wet, or hungry?”  
“Then he is wet and hungry all the time.”  
Chris roared with laughter, earning a curious look from Loki who stood at Ren's side while she bounced Fen on her shoulder.  
“What an astute observation, Brenna, though this too shall pass,” Chris brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, “You'll see. Fen will become more interesting as he grows. He will walk and talk. In fact he will likely follow you everywhere.”  
Brenna shook her head, “I will outrun him.”  
But she couldn't outrun the fact that this helpless little boy child had taken command of the household just by being born.  
There were times, of course, when she would stand at his cradle as mesmerized by him as everyone else had been. She found also that as the days passed, he began to change, turning from the ugly little worm she'd first glimpsed, to a baby boy watching the world with wonder.  
Occasionally, she would climb up into Eidra's lap while she held Fen and they would talk, often play with the baby. Fen's first smile was delivered in response to Brenna's laughter. However, when Loki would walk in the door, Brenna would scramble down from Eidra's lap and retreat to help Helgi or play with her rag doll, Tilly. As the days progressed and the harvest was begun, even less time was allotted for her. All hands grew busy building up the storehouse for the winter, butchering pigs, smoking meat, laying in firewood and her resentment of Fen's intrusion into her life grew, reaching a fever pitch as the Winternights approached.

“Watch the baby,” Helgi guided Brenna to the cradle beside the rocking chair where Fen lay doing his best to bat at a yellow and red silk ball hanging from a string above his head.  
“I wanted to gather the evergreens!” Brenna whined, tugging at Helgi's skirts, “You promised I could help!”  
“You are helping, Brenna. Watching the baby is a very big task and you are old enough to do it well.”  
“But I wish to go with Eidra!”  
Eidra had donned her cloak, picking up the basket beside the door, now she turned to Brenna, “Another time, Bren. You shall help me tie the boughs together and place them about the cottage when I return.”  
In frustration, she stamped her foot on the floor, misjudging how near she was to the cradle. When her foot hit one of the wooden rockers hard, shoving the cradle sideways and setting it rocking to and fro wildly, everything happened all at once. Fen let out a wail, Eidra gasped, dropping the basket to rush to the cradle. Brenna felt a hand fall hard upon her shoulder, pulling her backwards. Her feet slipped from beneath her on the rough flagstones and she landed with a painful jolt upon her rump. When she looked up, Loki was squatting before her, angrier than she'd ever seen him in her life. She wanted to crawl away, hide under Helgi's skirts but she could only stare at him with her mouth agape.  
“You nearly tipped Fen out of the CRADLE! What were you thinking?! Of all the careless, inept things to do....,” he stood, his full height more intimidating as he pointed to her bedchamber door, “To your room with you and there you are to stay until bedtime, alone!” the last word he delivered with direct glare at Eidra, “You will think upon what you have done today and practice being more careful in the future!”  
“Loki,” Eidra called to him but he held up a hand to silence her. Their resulting argument, however, was reduced to muffled shouts as Brenna burrowed into the covers of her bed hiding her head beneath her pillows while she cried herself to sleep.

Brenna lay in bed staring out her window into the darkness. Every so often, the light from her lantern would illuminate a snowflake or two, drifting past the pane of glass.  
It was the eve of Winternights. Tomorrow there would be a gathering in the town square to pay remembrance to ancestors, those gone before to Valhalla or Helgjfell or perhaps even Hel for the unlucky ones. Brenna sniffed loudly, wiping her eyes with her coverlet. Each Winternight they'd spent in the palace, Helgi would help her light a candle for her mama and papa wherever they had crossed over to. Brenna found it comforting to imagine her papa sitting on a gold chair in Valhalla, a sword across his lap, a cup of mead in his hand, smiling and laughing. She found it harder to imagine to which paradise her mama had crossed over, however, and for this she felt guilty, in part because for a long time now, she had begun to pretend Eidra was her mama.  
The door to her room slid open and Eidra glided in, sitting beside her on the bed.  
“You should be asleep, poppet,” Eidra caressed her forehead, “We have much to do on the morrow.”  
“I try to close my eyes but they open again,” Brenna lifted her hand to cover Eidra's, “Will you tell me a story?”  
Eidra smiled, “Not tonight, little one. I am fair falling asleep on my feet. The next eve I promise I shall lay down with you and we will...,”  
Fen's lusty cry drifted out of the common room, interrupting Eidra and she closed her eyes, “Try to sleep, my love. I must tend to Fen.”  
Eidra picked up the lantern, looked down at Brenna once more and closed the door behind her, casting the room into darkness.  
Could he not even allow her such a short simple visit?  
She lay there seething, angry tears starting afresh on her cheeks. If he were to remain here, she would never have Eidra to herself again.

 

The lantern sputtered to life as she stole a glance over her shoulder at Eidra and Loki's bedchamber door, certain that at any moment, one of them would hear her and come rushing out into the common room. She tiptoed to their door, pushing it open as slowly as she could. It seemed an eternity before she made a gap wide enough for her to fit through. She set the lantern on the common room floor. When she crept into the room, she blocked out the light, losing her bearings for a moment until she stepped to one side and the light from the lantern illuminated the foot board of the cradle. She froze as Fen snorted in his sleep sure they would hear him, however, all remained quiet and she moved quickly to the cradle. After a moment's hesitation, she reached down and gently lifted Fen up into her arms, blanket and all.  
She'd already thought up a lie if he chose to start squalling. She would tell them she heard him crying. Simple as that. He made not a sound, however, and she rushed out of the room, her heart in her throat.

A few feet from the door of the cottage, Fen awoke, squirming about in her arms. Twice she nearly dropped the lantern because he was moving about so much and then he started to whimper. She quickened her pace, trying to put as much ground between the cottage and herself as possible.  
“Hush,” she scolded him, breathless, bouncing him up and down, putting him to her shoulder, clutching the lantern in one hand. Finally she reached the spot she'd picked out a few days past. A little copse of trees sheltering a knot of tangled tree roots where she would play on occasion, stood some distance away from the cottage. It was here among the roots where she placed Fen who was starting to cry. When she at last stepped back and he felt the first few snowflakes on his cheek, he began to howl as if only now assessing his fate.  
Brenna stood there, going over in her mind what she would tell Eidra that next morning. When they were out looking for Fen, she would bring them to the copse of trees. Surely by then, the wolves would have taken him. Maybe they would leave a scrap of blanket, a few drops of blood. How did the baby get there? Why the wolves stole into the house. She'd heard their ki-yi-ing as she made her way into the woods, it wasn't a far stretch of the imagination. Their hunger would drive them to seek defenseless animals, did not babies fit such a description? She turned around, looking for the silhouette of the cottage through the trees as Fen began to wail, kicking his little feet, untangling the blanket from his chubby legs.  
“You little worm! You will scare away the wolves!” She hissed, raising the lantern high to glare at him but he would not be silenced. She watched the snowflakes gather on the blanket, melt away into nothing. He would freeze to death before any wild creature reached him. As she stood there, she was hit with a sudden memory of Eidra, lying in bed after little Silas left this world. She would not speak to anyone for a long time and when she finally did, it was as if she had died with him yet Silas had not lived through the night. Fen was approaching four moons now, he was the favorite son, beloved by all. The color drained from her face as she thought of Eidra prostrate before Fen's lifeless body. She took a step forward, struck then by another thought, the horror of dying, alone, frightened, the last vision to meet Fen's eyes, a set of long sharp teeth, the feeling of being torn apart as the wolves fought over him.  
Brenna dropped to her knees in the new fallen snow, the lantern landing on the ground with a sputtering clunk. How could she have thought this would work? How could she have been so very heartless? So jealous? It would kill Eidra to lose baby Fen. No matter how much Brenna wanted Eidra to be her mother, taking Fen away would change nothing. Eidra would always be Fen's mother, Brenna's mother would forever be relegated to stories told her by Helgi.  
Brenna rose to her feet, numb despite her fur lined boots, stumbled to where Fen lay and snatched him from the forest floor, clutching him to her. His little hands came up to grab at her face, fingernails scratching at her red cheeks as he rubbed his forehead against her chin. She took a deep breath, pressed her lips to his downy dark hair while she squatted to retrieve the lantern. She headed back toward the cottage, her stomach in knots.

She paused at the front door, listening for the voices she was sure she would be crying out for Fen but she was met only with silence. Fen's dreadful sobbing had been reduced to spastic shuddering gulps of air. She hushed him once more, opened the door to the cottage and stepped inside. Setting the lantern on the table, she headed for the bedchamber door, still ajar. She would set him in his cradle, beat a quick retreat and be in her bed before he could rouse the household with his cries. She was steps from the door when Fen began to wail again, his little fist shoved into his mouth.  
Brenna felt as though she was going to be sick when she heard Eidra just beyond the door.  
“Fen.......Loki! Where is the baby?!”  
Brenna flung her cloak onto the chair beside the front door and stared about the room. Footsteps were coming from the bedchamber. What to do? She darted to the rocking chair by the fireplace, her behind settling into the seat as Loki's foot crossed the threshold into the common room.  
“Brenna! What in Odin's name......” he snatched Fen from her arms, blanket and all.  
“He was crying so I brought him out to rock him...,” her words trailed off as she saw Loki take his hand from beneath Fen's bottom. She could see the dark blotch on the blanket where it was soaked through. His eyes trailed to the flagstones, wet with snowy footprints, then to the door of the cottage which was ever so slightly cracked open.  
“Brenna,” Eidra gasped as she reached them, fastening her robe around her waist, “What happened?”  
Eidra looked to Loki who was staring at Brenna, his face a mask of rage.  
“Loki, let me see him,” Eidra took Fen into her arms, her eyes widening when she too felt Fen's wet blanket, “He is freezing cold...”  
Brenna thought of running out into the night until she dropped, herself a proper sacrifice to the wolves for her cowardly act. It would be far preferable to what she was sure awaited her now as Loki strode to the chair, towering over her.  
“What did you do?”  
“Loki,” Eidra called to him, “Take the baby and change him out of his clothes.”  
Loki glared at Eidra over his shoulder, “Not now!”  
“LOKI!” Eidra had walked over to stand beside him and was now holding out a whimpering Fen, “Take your son this instant and let us be!”  
Brenna saw his jaw set in defiance yet his eyes bespoke defeat as he stood, holding out his arms.  
“See that he has a fresh nightshirt on and a good nappie. I will be in soon.”  
Without another word, Loki strode into the bedchamber and slammed the door shut  
Eidra knelt on the flagstones before Brenna, working off her boots, setting them aside, then she stood , “Come let me sit, then you join me.”  
Brenna stared at Eidra until tears blurred her vision and she began to cry. Eidra took her hand, drawing her into her lap.  
“The baby was crying, you were only trying to help. Dry your tears.”  
Brenna shook her head, “No....I...I wanted to....leave him...I wanted him to go away!” she buried her face in Eidra's shoulder, unable to say anything further.  
“Oh my sweet lamb, if you had wanted to do what you set out to do, you would have done it. Fen takes up so much of my time because he is but a baby. He can do nothing for himself now. It does not change the way I feel for you, nor does it change the special bond we have.”  
Brenna listened to Eidra's heart, felt Eidra's hand stroking her hair as she rocked, “But it will not change the fact that he is your baby and I am not.”  
She heard Eidra's voice change, become thick, “Oh poppet,” and she looked up to see Eidra too had started to cry.  
“I am sorry, Eidra. I am so very sorry. Please forgive me,” she brought her hand up to Eidra's face, “I was angry because I wanted so much for you to be my mama.”  
Eidra kissed her forehead, her hand, brushed her hair back, “Brenna....,” here she paused, “I would be happy, proud to be your mama. From now on, you may call me as such.”  
Brenna sat up, “Truly? But what of Loki?”  
“What of him?” Eidra tilted her head.  
“He will be mad with me.”  
Eidra put her hand under Brenna's chin and lifted it, “What a silly thing to think. I can promise you he will not be mad.”  
Brenna lay her head back down, letting Eidra rock her until her eyelids grew heavy, “Eidra....um,” she giggled, “Mama....I am sleepy.”  
“And just in time. You are a big girl now, eight seasons, my lap is not as accommodating now.”  
Eidra guided her into her bedchamber, settled her beneath the covers then leaned over and kissed her once more, a lingering press to her temple.  
“Good night, my lamb.”  
Brenna smiled as her eyes closed, “Good night, Mama.”


End file.
